DonMuncy Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 My Stratus died. The plug-in for the charger broke off the circuit board. It has about 6 teeny connectors that are far too small for me to solder onto. The battery in the unit has a black, a yellow and a red wire to it, and if one were smart enough, I suppose he could figure out how to tie a charger into them and make it work; but that is not me. In any event, it appears the unit would work, but I have no way to charge it. I have a GDL88 feeding weather and traffic into my Garmin 430, but I would really like that info on my IPad via Foreflight. Does anyone know of a way to talk the GDL 88 into communicating with the IPad. Has anyone assembled and used a Stratux. I am far from the world's most astute computer person, and I wonder how difficult they are to build, program, etc., and how they work. The CB in me just can't bring myself to spend the money for another Stratus, nor pay for a subscription to get that information in the air. Any ideas. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruiser Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 I would express myself to Stratus customer service, expecting to be taken care of as a loyal customer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LANCECASPER Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 Here's some info on the Stratux: http://www.beechtalk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=127001 Here's how Stratus treats their customers: http://www.beechtalk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=124811 Here's another option: http://www.beechtalk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=127590 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsxrpilot Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 Shane Schmidt on this forum would be a good resource. He builds and sells the Stratux boxes and and do some electronic repair as well. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midlifeflyer Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 7 hours ago, Cruiser said: I would express myself to Stratus customer service, expecting to be taken care of as a loyal customer. Good luck with that. I've read a number of threads in other forums. The breakage of the charging USB port in the Stratus is a common problem with a "too bad so sad" response reported by customer service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midlifeflyer Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 Don, Look into whether it is viable to add FlightStream into your 430 setup. It is compatible with Foreflight and will feed GDL88 data to it, check out the second article on this page of the Foreflight blog, https://blog.foreflight.com/tag/traffic/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chocks Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 If you want to send it to me, I'm happy to look at it and see if it can be repaired. If not, as Paul said, I have these new ADSBIN units that are awesome too! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDPetersen Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 My Stratus did the same. Since it was a Sportys purchase, the first step was to send it to them for evaluation. They contacted me to say it would have to go to appareo with a charge of $150 ( I think) which they offered to split with me since I was a "good customer". About 10 days later I received a Stratus II (refurb). I was pleased. Depending on where you purchased yours, if it ends up back at Appareo, they will likely deem it unrepairable and do the same. The Stratus II has a redesigned circuit board and more robust power connector. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
takair Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 I've had the same thing happen, twice! First time was a used until that went out of warranty simply because I was not the original owner, so I paid for the fix....which was a new unit. The fix to the plug problem was that they safety wired it to the board. That one did not last much longer. I can't recall what the reason was, but they wouldn't fix this under warranty either! I actually managed to add my own connector, but had reliability problems with this too. It requires the 5v power and two approx 3 volt signal lines to work in harmony. The board was just too damaged to rely on. Ultimately the Stratus 1 has a poor design. Sooo, I just bought a Stratux quick build kit and could not be happier. Was under $250. I did not buy the battery or GPS (iPad has this) and so far so good. I have it "mounted" to the right side window post....just in front of the door. Maybe I was just frustrated with the Stratus, but the Stratux appears to work better than the Stratus. The dual band certainly shows more traffic. The fast build is easy to assemble, just take your time. They have also just announce a ready to fly version...they needed FCC approval. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDPetersen Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 As I review my memory banks I must ad that the failed unit was a Stratus II, possibly less than a year old. It was replaced by a Stratus IIs. My original Stratus lives on as a backup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonMuncy Posted August 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 Thanks for all the help folks. I knew I could count on MSers. I will dig through all this info and know which way to jump. Special thanks Schmidt for the generous offer. I opened it up and agree that it is a poor design to attach a charging port to a circuit board with no more support than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cnoe Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 FYI I just received a new Stratus 2S unit from Appareo to replace my 3+ year old Stratus 2 whose battery had lost a little capacity. I thought their customer service was outstanding. I'd been wanting to upgrade to the 2S ever since I saw it had the new USB-C connection but didn't want to lose a bunch on selling mine and buying new. In the end they swapped mine for the newer version (and new battery) for $250 + shipping. Let me add that the battery is absolutely proprietary and NOT user-replaceable (ask me how I know). Lastly, the ADSBIN unit that Shane is selling looks like an excellent product but I find that having an AHRS to drive Foreflight's back-up attitude indicator and synthetic vision adds much peace of mind for the flying I do. I already have a back-up electric AI and a back-up electric vacuum pump but the SV sure feels good when popping in and out of clouds in hilly/mountainous terrain. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yooper Rocketman Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 They just replaced my earlier Stratus 1 with the new 2S due to an internal issue (for a reasonable fee). I thought the service was outstanding. Tom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonMuncy Posted August 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 From all the input, it appears that I need to dump the old Stratus. I'm not prepared to replace with another Stratus or the ADSBIN. It looks like I might be best served getting a Stratux or a generic version. Has anyone built/bought one. Does anyone know the advantages of the dual band vs the single band. I would like to hardwire the unit in, and hopefully have it come on whenever the master switch is activated. Is this possible with the Stratux. Amazon has a kit with (supposedly) everything needed to assemble one, for about $75, they advertise as being preprogrammed with Stratux software. What is the consensus with this. Any other pireps appreciated. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooniac15u Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 Everything you need to know to assemble a Stratux can be found here: http://stratux.me It is very easy to load the software onto the SD card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milotron Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 (edited) I just built one with dual band and the GPS module. It powered up and ran fine, and picked up TIS-B traffic, but I didn't pick up any ADSB towers where I am in Canada. Assembly was quite easy, especially with a preloaded SD card. That was the hardest part was uploading the operating system to the SD card as I didn't buy it preloaded. get one with a nice 3D printed case to make it super easy to put together. If you plug it into a cig lighter outlet in the aircraft it should power up automatically when you need it. The AHRS solution may be available later this year to use for synthetic vision. Edited August 27, 2016 by milotron spelling... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted August 28, 2016 Report Share Posted August 28, 2016 We had the Stratux guy visit here a while ago... Steve Sokol.... check your cig plug to see if it is on all the time. It is continuously hot in the Long Bodies. Known to kill off a good Gill by leaving a SkyRadar plugged in... Hope that is helpful... Best regards, -a- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
takair Posted August 28, 2016 Report Share Posted August 28, 2016 4 hours ago, DonMuncy said: From all the input, it appears that I need to dump the old Stratus. I'm not prepared to replace with another Stratus or the ADSBIN. It looks like I might be best served getting a Stratux or a generic version. Has anyone built/bought one. Does anyone know the advantages of the dual band vs the single band. I would like to hardwire the unit in, and hopefully have it come on whenever the master switch is activated. Is this possible with the Stratux. Amazon has a kit with (supposedly) everything needed to assemble one, for about $75, they advertise as being preprogrammed with Stratux software. What is the consensus with this. Any other pireps appreciated. Don Don The one I mentioned above is the Flightbox dual band. I only have a few flights on it, but so far I am pleased, especially for the price. I am looking forward to their AHRS option as well. Quick build was really easy to assemble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yetti Posted August 28, 2016 Report Share Posted August 28, 2016 I built a stratux about a year ago. Works good and many of the device moving map vendors have supported the input. easy to build. I still have the battery velcroed to the case. If you have a cigertte plug just get a mini USB phone charger like for a samsung phone and plug it in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AH-1 Cobra Pilot Posted October 22, 2016 Report Share Posted October 22, 2016 Stratux is a great way to go! This one was around $100, including the case I printed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonMuncy Posted October 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 I just got, and assembled a Stratux. Works fine, with traffic, etc., from ADSB. However, my geo-referencing (using Foreflight) does not function. My plane shows up as "traffic" with my tail number beside an arrow looking icon. Back when I was using a Stratus (before it broke), my position showed up as a blue plane. Back then "I" showed up on procedure plates, and now I don't. It occurs to me that perhaps my Stratux does not have a GPS chip. Does anyone think I can use my "Dual" brand gps, and will it talk to my IPad, along with the Stratux. Or is a gps chip available for the Stratux. Or is this even the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peevee Posted October 24, 2016 Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 (edited) That's ghosting. You can put your hex in foreflight to get rid of it I think. Doesn't sound like you have a GPS in your stratux so that's why no position. Your dual should work fine, it's Bluetooth and stratux wifi There are GPS units people use with stratux. Check the git hub or stratux subreddit for models Edited October 24, 2016 by peevee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnybgoode Posted October 24, 2016 Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 Yes to both - Dual will provide gps in to FF but there is also a gps chip that you attach to Stratux for same purpose. I just did it a couple of weeks ago - 7 wires, if I remember correctly. Find the details by googling Stratux gps chip. My traffic setup isn't working exactly right yet but position and ADSB weather work reliably after about 10 flight hours. Good luck, Patrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonMuncy Posted October 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 Thanks guys. I'll plug in my Dual and see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
takair Posted October 24, 2016 Report Share Posted October 24, 2016 I use the internal GPS on my iPad. Does your iPad have GPS option? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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